Hokkaido 5 days 4 night

[tommyfam1977]

I will go to hokkaido for 5 days 4 night
Need rent car
2 adults 1 infant 1 children
Day 1.New Chitose Airport to sapporo
Day 2. Sapporo to otaru
day 3. Sapporo to Asahiyama Zoo
Day 4. Sapporo to kiroro resort.
Day 5. Sapporo to New Chitose Airport

Rent a car cheaper or take public transport?
Any idea for this trip rent a car with petrol plus toll way about how much

 

[deodorant]

Which month / season are you going?

 

[tommyfam1977]

5 January 2020 to 9 january 2020

Which month / season are you going?

 

[purpleberry]

Highly recommend renting a car although it might be a bit late for discounts now. Inter-city transportation is not as frequent as Tokyo and waiting in the cold winter is not pleasant.

Sapporo to Asahiyama Zoo easily takes 5hrs to and fro, especially in the snow. It's a nice zoo but if you're into penguins, there's another one nearer to Sapporo

https://en.nixe.co.jp/

 

[karlgantry]

Visit this one - Noboribetsu Onsen Kyo Takinoya
4-star hotel . 162 Noboribetsuonsencho, Noboribetsu, Hokkaido 059-0551, Japan•+81 143-84-2222

 

[deodorant]

5 January 2020 to 9 january 2020

On the way to Otaru you can consider visiting the shiroi koibito factory. Can go and do the 'design your own cookie' thing with your elder kid if he's old enough. Otaru on it's own (IMO) doesn't need an entire day.

 

[tommyfam1977]

Any idea easy to drive on winter?
No experience driving on winter.
We are 8 adults 3 children 1 infant.

Highly recommend renting a car although it might be a bit late for discounts now. Inter-city transportation is not as frequent as Tokyo and waiting in the cold winter is not pleasant.

Sapporo to Asahiyama Zoo easily takes 5hrs to and fro, especially in the snow. It's a nice zoo but if you're into penguins, there's another one nearer to Sapporo

https://en.nixe.co.jp/

 

[purpleberry]

Any idea easy to drive on winter?
No experience driving on winter.
We are 8 adults 3 children 1 infant.

I have not driven in the snow before like the others did but presumably it will be slower compared to other months. Just take note of the rest stops (michino eki) along the way for toilet breaks and stretches.

 

[James Tang]

If your whole party has no experience driving during winter, don't. Not advisable

 

[joanneklx]

Any idea easy to drive on winter?
No experience driving on winter.
We are 8 adults 3 children 1 infant.

Hi! We just went in last Dec and it was our first time driving in the snow.

Firstly, it is not that scary as what you think it is. it is manageable and i think we make a right choice in renting a car.

Cons - The journey will be longer than the usual. A 1hour car journey turn out to be 2 - 2.5hr as everyone is driving slower than usual. We are crusing at about 70km/hr on the road. But, we took the chance to enjoy the scenery.

Pros - As we know the car journey is going to be long, we set off earlier and got some breakfast/snack to be eaten in the car. We can bring out extra heat pads that are heavy and put it in the car so that we can use it whenever we want.

 

[deodorant]

Any idea easy to drive on winter?
No experience driving on winter.
We are 8 adults 3 children 1 infant.

You might have some issues with Kiroro particularly if weather's bad on the day, but elsewhere you should be fine, most roads will be gritted so it's not like you'll be doing 4 wheel drifts all over the place.

Just to take note however that IF a huge storm hits while you're there then it's a different story, roads might very well turn out to be too dangerous to drive on so get a Plan B ready up front.